For the icing

Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…

few drops yellow food colouring

icing flowers or yellow sprinkles, to decorate

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake or muffin cases. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds together in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs into the yogurt, then tip this into the dry ingredients with the melted butter. Mix together with a wooden spoon or whisk until lump-free, then divide between the cases. Bake for 20-22 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean – the cakes will be quite pale on top still. Cool for 5 mins in the tin, then carefully lift onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

To ice, beat the softened butter until really soft in a large bowl, then gradually beat in the icing sugar and lemon juice. Stir in enough food colouring for a pale lemon colour, then spoon the icing into a piping bag with a large star nozzle.

Ice one cake at a time, holding the piping bag almost upright with the nozzle about 1cm from the surface of the cake. Pipe one spiral of icing around the edge, then pause to break the flow before moving the nozzle towards the centre slightly and piping a second, smaller spiral that continues until there are no gaps in the centre. Slightly ‘dot’ the nozzle into the icing as you stop squeezing to finish neatly. Repeat to cover all the cakes, then top with sugar decorations or scatter with sprinkles.

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Comments, questions and tips

I really like the cake - didn't use zest as I only had waxed lemons, but used half a lemon''s juice instead. Was lemony but would definitely use zest of unwaxed lemon next time as it would taste nicer. I used 150g sugar and found the taste sweet enough. Made basic icing sugar and lemon juice to cover the cakes thinly. Was a lovely combination and could top it with a flower or decoration. I would only use buttercream for an ocassion so they'd look more 'wow'! Texture of the cake is lovely, moist and and dense. Poppyseeds make a nice change. Enjoy!

Canadabaker

17th Jul, 2017

5.05

I made this recipe exactly as shown and the cupcakes turned out perfectly. Best cupcakes I've ever made. A few tips make sure your butter is at room temperature for the icing. And your icing sugar is fresh. And I weighed all the ingredients on a 10$ electronic scale for accuracy. PERFECT RECIPE AS IS.

chloemayb94

27th Feb, 2017

5.05

Amazing cupcakes! The cake itself is gorgeous.

elizabethj91

24th Jan, 2017

3.8

These were absolutely amazing! The flavour was there and they had a lovely golden colour when they came out of the oven. The only thing I didn't like was the icing - the lemon juice made the butter curdle out of the mixture and was too runny to pipe. Maybe I did something wrong, but I'll stick to a simple buttercream next time.

samfoodie

25th Apr, 2016

Mmmmmm these are delish! Didn't bother with the icing as they don't need the extra sugar and fat although I did add a dollop of lemon curd in middle of each cake. I also added juice of 1 lemon as I feel they're not lemony enough, didn't bother toasting poppy seeds, used full fat Greek yogurt because that's all I had and added a tablespoon of chia seeds! Nice little treat in packed lunch!

bexbeam

24th Nov, 2015

5.05

Five stars for the cupcakes, which are great - moist and squidgy. For the icing I made lemon-infused white chocolate ganache. Bring 100g double cream + zest of 1 lemon just to the boil. Leave to cool for 20 mins or so, then melt in 100g white chocolate and cool again until spreadable. Delish!

thebryonysea

26th Jul, 2015

5.05

Just made these without the icing and they've come out lovely! Nice flavour and the poppyseeds didn't just fall to the bottom. However for me this easily made 17 cupcakes, not 12, but I won't complain!

Caroline-14

24th Jun, 2015

5.05

Love, love, love this recipe! So easy to make, and nice and lemony. I left out the poppy seeds, instead I used a cupcake corer and added a tsp of homemade lemon curd to the centres before I iced them. No idea why so many people had problems with the icing being too runny as it is a standard recipe for butter icing? Oh, and this recipe won me first prize in the cupcake section at my county show :D

CotswoldMummy

2nd Feb, 2015

5.05

Made these yesterday for afternoon tea. They are fabulous...not sure the icing is needed as they tasted yummy on their own but I did ice them and it was a nice treat. I didn't follow the icing recipe though as it just seemed too much butter and icing sugar so I made up some lemon buttercream using less ingredients and it was fab. Will be making these again very soon....

razata

14th Nov, 2014

I have made these several times already. Absolutely lovely and enjoyed by all the family. I don't do the icing as nobody likes it (and who needs another pack of butter in?) and they don't need it really. Once I put a large pecan nut on top of each before baking and it was lovely.

Pages

I have made these and they area amazing. The only issue I had was the butter icing quite running and I had to add a lot more icing sugar to it. Can you guys give me a fail safe recipe for the perfect butter icing for these cakes? the lemon juice definitely works in the recipe but I am wondering if it is the reason why the icing was a bit runny. I did also add lemon drizzle on the cakes whilst still warm which added to the depth of flavour, I would recommend doing this :)

Nurse Natasha

14th Apr, 2014

I love these cupcakes and have made them a few times now. Go down a treat for the nurses on night shift. My cakes don't seem to rise very well though, it is usually more icing than cake, the cake comes out quite thin. When I made them again I tried to whisk more with an electric whisk but they are still the same. I have also tried to add more mixture to the cases but it has just spilt over the edge. Any tips?

c.m.srules

29th Mar, 2014

hey,
do you think its a good idea to add chocolate sprinkles, chocolae pieces and marange? im not sure if it will work! need to know asap as i am making them after tea tonight ready for mothers day tomorrow! i dont want them to go wrong thats all!!
thanks x

goodfoodteam

11th Apr, 2014

Hi there. You could add some choclate chunks, we'd avoid adding too many extra ingredeints though or the recipe may not work correctly. Perhaps just stick to just one.

thegirlwhobaked

10th Feb, 2014

I'm not sure if I should add a raspberry on top and some jam in the icing as well because apparently sour-citrus and berry go really well together. Plus the jam would make the icing look more peachy .
This is also for a cupcake competition so i'm not sure if it is worth the risk

goodfoodteam

21st Feb, 2014

Hi there, thanks for your comments. We think a raspberry on top and around 1/2 - 1 tsp of raspberry jam in the middle would work really well added to these cakes. Let us know how they turn out! Best wishes, BBC Good Food team

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